Up on axle stands, just after I bled the power steering. I'll have a shot at replacing the alternator voltage regulator while it's in this position.





Power steering fluid, Audi G13, Audi Quantum Fully Synthetic and the defunct Turbo Diesel sticker from the lock carrier:



Much happier with the correct sticker:

 

A quick teaser. No more whining, groaning power steering pump. Note method used in extending the fluid reservoir capacity during the bleeding process, highly recommended to prevent fluid loss:

 

With the engine all running, without a single DTC, it is time to fit the cooling fans.

With my previous V8 swap, I ran a couple of slimline 14" pushers, 80W each. One had a manual override, which meant I could control the fan at will. The engine never overheated, but this time, I'm playing it safe. This is one of the reasons I have not fitted the fans until not, as I wanted to have a good think about the route I decided to go with.

I am running a 9" 120W puller on the engine side of the radiator, and a couple of genuine B5 S4 280mm (approx. 12") 300W fans as pushers on the outside. While it's pretty easy to rig up some sort of control relay for the 120W aftermarket fan, 300W units are a different matter, and require a different approach, if the goal is not to fry the harness, or burn the car down.

I could have gone aftermarket, and purchased one of the myriads of controllers commercially available, if a much neater OEM solution didn't exist.



An OEM B5 RS4 twin cooling fan control module, and...



...an OEM B5 RS4 fan control module wiring harness. This replaces the stock A4 harness, that runs between the left fender and wheel arch liner. Connection is in the left kick panel via the 10-pin grey plug. The brown ring connector goes onto the earth post, while the long red ring connector goes across and just above the left to right footwell, where it is bolted to terminal 30 (permanent 12V+). An extra relay is required on the relay panel, the control module is fused independently, and that's it on the inside. The rest is all plug and play in the engine bay.

9" 120W puller fan:



OEM B5 RS4 280mm 300W pusher fans x 2:

 

Oil filter was delivered this morning. I ordered one for a C5 S6...

...it doesn't fit. My oil filter housing is off a C5 RS6, with a sandwich plate for an external oil cooler. The C5 RS6 threaded tube is smaller than that of the C5 S6 filter. Luckily, Audi have an RS6 one on the shelf, and are doing a swap within the hour. The C5 RS6 oil filter is also half the price of the S6 one.

C5 S6 oil filter - 077 115 561 G.
C5 RS6 oil filter - 078 115 561 K.

 

Update: 11th May, 2016.

My external oil cooler pipes turned up this arvo.

They are PTFE, encased in stainless steel braid. I did consider rubber reinforced hose, pushed onto barbed ends, and secured with worm clips. With rubber though, there is the risk of the hoses softening with heat, or the hoses actually coming off the barbed ends.

These ones were made to my required length, with 1/2" BSP couplings, 90 degree angles at one end, straight at the other. I should be fitting these tomorrow with the cooler, and doing an oil / filter change.

 

My aluminium radiator has a pinhole leak from the core. Rather than fix it, I'm taking my spare aluminium radiator to get the pipes on the left hand side removed, and welded over. And new pipes welded in place to match the V8's hoses on the right. So the bumper is still off for now, till the radiator is done tomorrow.

Still, I couldn't resist taking the car for a spin. It pulls like a train, very different from my previous swaps, and definitely different from the very healthy 2.8 V6 30V. I can drop speed down to 25 mph in 5th, stomp on the gas, and it still picks up great. I'm pleased with how it's all worked out.

It's got an occasional 2 second "rev hang" between shifts, and an intermittent jerk when pulling away in first. Classic symptoms of a clutch switch not being connected between ECU pin location 39 and white body connector pin location 13. Then of course to the clutch pedal switch, with the other side teed in to the brake pedal switch (cruise). I have ordered the clutch switch, minor detail.

I had quite a few stares as I blasted down the back roads, people walking way ahead turned to stare. A B5 is at it's most aggressive with the front bumper missing, leaving the black condenser, twin fans and black bumper mounts jutting out. The soundtrack of the big V8, through the B6 S4 Millteks, through the stainless B5 S4 exhaust and finally exiting the twin tips is deep, and amplifies the V8 rumble. It's aggressive without being too loud. I'm pleased I opted for the B5 S4 stainless system, with the twin pipes all the way, through the mid and finally into the rear muffler.

It'll be great to have the radiator done, the front bumper in place, then I can get the car tested and finally hit the open road.

 

I temporarily installed my C5 RS6 instrument cluster into B5 420-R, so I could extract the 4-digit PIN, and discovered it's IMMO3, meaning different software to do the job is required, which has been ordered. It will also adapt the mileage to match my current original.

Basic settings of the needles has been done, as well as the modifications required to get the instrument lighting compatible with the B5. I also purchased a 2005 C5 Allroad cluster to pull out the LCD cluster, with which I built the RS6 cluster. I prefer the OEM VDO LCD, aftermarket versions are generally too bright, and don't match the clock and mileage LCD panels.

One ready C5 RS6 cluster. I love the white needles, which I took out of a 2000 B5 S4 cluster:



B5 S4 cluster - I was able to extract the 4-digit PIN. It's a nice cluster, but compared to the C5 RS6 unit, it looks quite bland. It'll be easier to sell with the PIN though:

 

The clutch has now been fully broken in, over 722 miles since the V8 swap.

Just a short video, where I've tried to capture the exhaust note. Exhaust system consists of a pair of B6 S4 Miltek stainless down pipes, (no CATS) mated to an unbranded, stainless dual-piped, dual silencer B5 S4 CAT-back: